LAS VEGAS — Aljamain Sterling won the last Celebrity Poker Tour event he entered. Now he gets another shot at the felt.
Sterling, a UFC champion who took down the December 2025 WSOP Presents the Celebrity Poker Tour event in the Bahamas for $10,000, headlines a stacked field for the CPT's 2026 Season Premiere Championship on March 19 at the PokerGO Studio inside ARIA Casino & Resort. The event streams live on YouTube starting at 6 p.m. local time.
A Field Built for Primetime
Sterling won't be the only hardware-holder at the table. Super Bowl champions Skyy Moore and Antoine Winfield Jr. are both confirmed, as are UFC champions Henry Cejudo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion Mackenzie Dern.
The NFL contingent runs deep. Will Levis, Brandon Marshall, Bud Depree, Adrian Peterson, Austin Ekeler, Alexander Mattison, Scott Matlock and Ray Davis are all registered. On the influencer side, Tana Mongeau, Telli Swift, India Love and gambling content creator Frazier Kay round out a roster that keeps growing. Chumlee of Pawn Stars, reality TV personality Chase Chrisley and UFC fighter Colby Covington, a known poker enthusiast, are also in.
The Reigning Champions
NFL player Josh Norman is among the most recent CPT title winners, having captured CPT Invitational VIII in August 2025 for $20,000. The 2024 CPT Championship belonged to poker player and coach Maria Ho, who banked $50,000 in that victory. Ho also won the inaugural CPT Game Night in March 2024 for $10,000, giving her multiple CPT titles. Princess Love, coached by Ho, is also a CPT champion.
Poker as a Canvas
CPT founder Blake Wynn has been direct about the tour's priorities. "Poker is a canvas for entertainment for us," Wynn said.
Since its 2023 launch, events at the PokerGO Studio have featured moments such as Sofie Dossi performing a mind-bending contortionist act at the table and Mackenzie Dern demonstrating a chokehold on Haliey "Hawk Tuah" Welch between hands. Wynn has pushed that vision further. "What about if Joey Chestnut and Mackenzie Dern race eating hot dogs while they're playing?" he said. "I just think that that's more engaging when you talk about scale. Not of poker, but of just entertainment."
Past fields have brought in rappers including Waka Flocka Flame, Ray J, 24kGoldn, Maxo Kream and Bun B. Several names have been added to the March 19 roster in recent days, with the lineup continuing to expand ahead of the season opener.
